Hafsa

Hafsa is a 51-year-old Iraqi woman. She is married and a mother of two children. With limited career options due to cultural restrictions and domestic constraints, Hafsa is one of the many Iraqi women who is working from home, using her sewing skills to generate some income and participate in meeting the financial needs of her family.

Hafsa has five years of experience with her small, home-based sewing and tailoring business.Sitting on the floor, she bends over her machine to make the dresses and other small fabric household items her customers order from her. Using a newer model of sewing machine, she has been able to provide her customers with nice, quality work.

She would like to improve her work conditions and concentrate a bit on renewing her work area, making it a nicer, better place to spend her hours. To be able to pay for the work, she took a loan from Relief International Microfinance Iraq in the amount of 1,800 USD.

Based on the political and social challenges of lending in Iraq, personally identifiable information about this borrower has been altered for her protection. RI-Iraq appreciates Kiva lenders' consideration of these challenges and encourages lenders to continue their support for Iraqi borrowers.

Additional Information

About Relief International Iraq

Relief International (RI) is a non-profit non-sectarian organization with a multifaceted approach to working in post-conflict, vulnerable and transitional countries. As part of its core mission to bridge emergency relief with long-term development though sustainable, enterprise-oriented solutions, RI directs a broad microfinance portfolio in the Middle East and South Asia. In Iraq, RI microfinance has been providing access to capital for micro, small and medium enterprises since 2006. When lending through RI, there are several points to consider:

1. RI-Iraq offers loans that are customized for borrowers in Iraq, a predominantly Muslim country. A key principle of Islam is the prohibition of charging interest on a loan. This prohibition is based on the belief that money is only a medium of exchange and has no value in itself. In order to offer loans in a manner consistent with borrowers' values, RI-Iraq charges 0% interest on this loan. However, RI-Iraq does charge a servicing fee to cover its costs. The loan amount you see listed on Kiva includes both the principal loan and the loan servicing fees. As with all Kiva loans, you should expect to have your funds returned to you according to this loan’s repayment schedule. For more information on lending in the Muslim world, please click here.

2. Because of on-going security concerns, due diligence on RI-Iraq was conducted remotely, rather than in-person as is typical with most Kiva Field Partners. RI-Iraq does, however, meet all of the other minimum criteria required by Kiva's full due diligence.

3. One of the challenges of lending to entrepreneurs in Iraq is the increased chance of difficulty transferring funds between the United States, where Kiva is based, and Iraq. While Kiva has been able to send and receive funds to and from Iraq in the past, there is a chance that we may encounter problems doing so in the future. This could result in difficulty repaying loan funds to lenders, even if individual borrowers have paid back their loans. As a lender to borrowers in Iraq, you would be taking on this additional risk.